This invention relates primarily to electronic video poker games, and more particularly to electronic video stud poker games that are based on poker hand rankings and allow the player to play multiple hands at the same time. The player starts with two or more identical partial hands and then each hand is completed by the displaying of additional cards so that each hand is a final stud poker hand.
The player may increase or decrease his wager on each hand prior to the completion of the final stud poker hands.
Five card, six card and seven card stud have been played for many years, usually in a poker room setting in which a plurality of players play against each other striving to obtain the highest ranking poker hand (or lowest ranking poker hand in Lo-Ball poker) in order to win the pot which comprises the wagers made by the players during the play of the game.
Electronic video poker has also been a staple in gaming casinos for many years and this well known game is a single player game based on draw poker. The player attempts to achieve a winning poker hand ranking by discarding from an initial five card hand and drawing new cards in order to try and improve his poker hand. A pay table is provided to show the player what he can win based on the poker hand ranking achieved after the draw step and the amount wagered by the player.
There have been attempts to adapt stud poker to an electronic video game format. One attempt involved a single player seven card stud game in which the player makes a first wager and initially received three cards face up. In one version of this game, the player has the option of making additional wagers before the player receives the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh cards. In another version, the player also has the option of making additional wagers before receiving the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh cards unless the player has already achieved a winning poker hand combination, in which case the player is not allowed to make additional wagers. In either version, the final seven cards are analyzed and the best five card hand is used to determine the poker hand ranking of the player""s hand. A pay table is used based on five card poker hand rankings and the amount wagered by the player to determine the amount won by the player when he achieves a winning hand.
Another popular single player stud poker game is known as DOUBLE DOWN STUD(copyright) poker. This game is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,137 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,413, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated herein by this reference. In DOUBLE DOWN STUD(copyright) poker, the player makes a first wager and is dealt four cards all face up. The player may make an additional wager prior to receiving the fifth card. After the fifth card is dealt, the five card hand is compared to a pay table to determine if the player has a winning or losing card combination based on poker hand ranking.
Another stud poker game that has been adapted to a single player video poker format is a game known as LET IT RIDE(copyright). In this game, the player makes a wager of three units at the start of each round of play. The player is then shown three cards face up. The player may decrease his wager by one unit or let all three wagers ride. The player is then shown a fourth card. The player may decrease his wager by one unit or let his wagers ride. The player is then shown a fifth card and the poker hand ranking of the final five card hand is used to determine winning or losing plays based on a pay table. The method of play of LET IT RIDE(copyright) is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,081, U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,430 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,892, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-hand format to stud poker games.
It is a feature of the present invention to deal and display multiple partial hands to the player, each partial hand having the same cards. The player has the option of increasing or decreasing his wager prior to the additional cards needed to complete each hand being revealed. Each partial hand is then completed into a final stud hand by dealing and displaying additional cards to each hand. The poker hand ranking of each final stud hand is determined and winning final hands are paid based on the poker hand ranking of the final stud hand and the amount wagered by the player.
It is an advantage of the present invention that multiple stud hands may be played by the player thereby increasing the enjoyment of the game as well as increasing the number of hands that can be played in a certain time period thereby creating a higher revenue game for the gaming casino.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description.
The method of present invention involves the player making a wager to play multiple hands of a stud poker game. The player selects the number of hands that the player wishes to play. The wager is allocated among the number of hands that are to be played.
Once the player has made his wager, a plurality of initial partial hands are displayed to the player. Each initial partial hand has the same cards with the cards displayed face up to the player. The initial partial hand are randomly dealt from a single deck of playing cards.
The player is then provided with the opportunity to increase his wager on each hand before the hand is completed. After the player makes his decision whether to increase his wager, each hand is then completed as a stud poker final hand by dealing the additional cards from either the original single deck of cards (less the initially dealt cards) or from a plurality of partial depleted decks of playing cards, each depleted deck of playing cards comprising a full deck less the cards dealt as the initial partial hand. The player wins or loses depending on the poker hand ranking of each final hand. The amount won by the player is based on the poker hand ranking of each final hand and the amount wagered by the player according to a pay table.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, each initial partial hand has four cards and the final hand has five cards. In other variations of the present invention, each initial partial hand can have one, two or three cards and the final hand has five cards. In yet other variations of the present invention, the final hand can have three, four, six, seven or more cards and the initial partial hand would then have less cards than the final hand.
In another alternative embodiment of the present invention, the player makes multiple wagers on each hand at the beginning of the round of play. After the initial partial hand is dealt, the player is provided with the opportunity to decrease his wager on each hand. Whether or not the player decreases his wager, the cards necessary to complete each final hand are dealt and winning or losing outcomes are determined.